Depardieu. Emerald Cup court action fails
On Friday 27 September 2013 the High Court in Johannesburg dismissed the application brought by Messrs F C De Beer and A J Potgieter against The National Horseracing Authority and Phumelela Gaming and Leisure Limited to have their horse DEPARDIEU included as a runner, alternatively as a reserve runner in the Emerald Cup on Saturday 28 September 2013.
The Applicants commenced their case by alleging that the Handicappers of the NHA had “maliciously” excluded DEPARDIEU from the field of 14 horses selected to participate in the race, as they alleged that DEPARDIEU should have been selected having regard to its Merit Rating. The Applicants subsequently, in pursuing the case, sought an order to have DEPARDIEU selected as a reserve runner.
In dismissing the case the Court took into consideration that the Applicants did not cite the other interested parties (namely the Trainers and Owners of the other 14 runners) in the Court case thereby depriving them of the opportunity to oppose the application, the Judge ordered the Applicants (Messrs De Beer and Potgieter) to pay the legal costs incurred by the NHA and Phumelela.
